Door hinge recess jig



May 25, 1965 R. E. PATRICK DOOR HINGE RECESS JIG Filed Oct. 18, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m sm-r ow QQX Vick May 25, 1965 R. E. PATRICK 3,184,859

DOOR. HINGE RECESS JIG Filed. Oct. 18, 1963- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W Rex E. pair 1.229% [0% W/Jw United States Patent 3,1845% DOOR HINGE RECESS HG Rex E. Patrick, 469 Washington St, South Beloit, iii. Filed Oct. 18, 1963, Ser. No. 317,215 3 Claims. ((15. 33-197) This invention relates to jigs for locating hinge recesses in door frames and in the adjacent edges of doors to be hinged on the frames, and relates more particularly to portable jigs adapted to be positioned against the jamb of the door and the door edge to guide a tool for routing out the hinge recesses in the jamb and the door.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a novel hinge recess jig of the foregoing character which is extremely simple in construction and operation and eliminates all the relatively complex adjustments and manipulations required with prior jigs of this general type thereby to reduce the time and skill required in forming the recesses.

A more detailed object is to form the jig in a novel manner such that it transfers quickly and easily from the jamb to the door and defines tool cutting paths on the door constituting mirror images of the recesses in the jamb.

Another object is to construct the jig for quick and simple use with both flush jambs and rabbeted jambs.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a jig embodying the novel features of the present invention in position against a fiush door jamb.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the jig in position against the edge of a door.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view taken adjacent the top of the jig in FIG. 1 with the top board of the door frame shown in cross-section and with the operating relation of the jig and a tool shown in broken lines.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 3 with the jig positioned on a rabbeted jamb.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line 77 of FIG. 6.

As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the invention is embodied in a template or jig 10 for locating a set of hinge recesses 11 (see FIGS. 4, 5 and 7) on the jamb 12 of a door frame and also locating a set of alined recesses 13 in the edge 14 of a door 15 to be hinged on the jamb, the jig serving as a guide for a tool such as a power operated router bit 17. The jig is placed against the workpiece surface to be recessed and the tool is projected through one or more template openings in the jig having edges for guiding and confining the tool movement to the proper area of the workpiece.

Routers of the type used for this purpose are well known and, therefore, only the tool bit 17 and the guide bushing 18 for the bit are shown herein. Generally stated, such routers include a guide plate having a flat underside for sliding on one side of the jig with the guide bushing 18 projecting through and extending beyond the plate for engagement with the template edges on the jig and with the power-rotated bit telescoped through and projecting beyond the bushing to cut into the workpiece beyond the jig (see FIGS. 4, 5 and 7). The amount of tool projection beyond the jig, of course, determines the depth of cut in the workpiece. The path of the tool as the bushing follows the template edges'forms the outer edge of the recess in the workpiece. Back and forth movement of the tool within the template openings removes the remaining material in the recesses.

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Prior jigs for forming door hinge recesses have taken many forms such as rather complex permanent clamping fixtures for holding the door edge and the jamb face side by side in a common plane and making simultaneous cuts to insure alinement of the recesses when the door is as sembled after installation of the jamb in a building structure. Because of the need for readily available equipment on the work site, at least one portable jig has been developed with template openings spaced along an elongated piece and made selectively adjustable in size to accommodate hinges of the two sizes now used in commercial construction operations, these being threeand-one-half and four inches long. The adjustment and use of these jigs requires time-consuming manipulation which is susceptible to errors often resulting in misalined recesses that have to be reworked.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a novel portable jig 10 for the above described purpose which is extremely simple in construction and operation and eliminates all adjustments and, consequently, the inaccuracies that might result from such adjustments. To these ends, the jig comprises an elongated rail 19 with a set of template openings of fixed size and spacing cut through the rail at the desired longitudinal spacing of the hinge recesses to be formed. One side 20 of the rail is adapted to be laid against the work area on the jamb 12 and the opposite side 21 is adapted to be laid against the work area on the door edge 14 to be recessed for hinges.

To locate the rail 19 and the template openings transversely of the jamb 12 and the frame, first and second longitudinally spaced stop means facing edgewise of the rail are provided to engage longitudinal surfaces on the jamb and the door and hold the rail in corresponding positions on the jamb and the door. Thus, the jig is laid against the jamb with the first stops engaging the locating surface on the jamb while the jamb recesses 11 are cut, and then simply is transferred to the door with the opposite side of the rail lying against the door edge and with the second stops engaging the locating surface of the door while the door edge recesses 13 are cut. It will be seen that the second set of recesses will be mirror images of the first set.

In the present instance, the rail 19 is shown as a single elongated member such as a board whose length is somewhat less than the height of the door opening but longer than the spacing of the lower jamb recess 11 from the top of the door opening. This permits the jig to be positioned longitudinally of the jamb with the top of the jig abutting against the top member 22 of the frame and the bottom of the jig below the lower jamb recess. It will be apparent that the rail may be hinged for folding longitudinally at one or two transverse joints (not shown) to facilitate transportation and storage if desired.

The template openings are formed by three generally U-shaped notches spaced along one side edge 23 of the rail, the left-hand edge as viewed in FIG. 3, and having horizontal top and bottom edges 24 and 25 and a vertical inner edge 27 preferably joined to the top and bottom edges by arcuate edges 28. The template notches correspond generally in shape to the recesses 11 and 13 to be formed, but are substantially wider than the width of the recesses and are longer than the recesses by an amount sufiicient to compensate for the difference in the radii of the follower 18 and the bit 17 of the router to be used. The edges 27 lie in a common longitudinal plane.

To form the locating stops in a simple and effective manner, additional U-shaped notches 29 are formed in the left-hand edge 23 (FIG. 3) of the rail 19 with the inner edges or bottoms of the notches paralleling the vertical template edges 27 and offset to the left from the template edges by an amount equal to the hinge width plus the aforementioned difference in the two radii. Pivoted on the rail on screws threaded into the bottoms of these notches are a plurality of lugs 31 having flat sides 32 disposed in a common vertical plane and facing edge- Wise of the rail toward the vertical edges 27 of the template notches. The lugs are swingable about the axes defined by the screws into alternate positions in which the free ends of the lugs project outwardly on opposite sides of the rail. In one of these positions, the lugs coact to form the first stops for engaging the jamb 12, and in the other position they form the second stops for engaging the door 15.

When the jig It? is used on a flush door frame of the type shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 in which the jamb 12 is not rabbeted or grooved to receive the door in the closed position, the jig first is placed against the jamb as shown in FIG. 1 with the lugs 31 projecting to the left to overlap and abut against the exposed outer edge 33 of the jamb, thus positioning the template notches in overlapping relation with the inner face of the jamb. A spacer 34 fast on the upper end of the jig rail 19 abuts against the top 22 of the door opening and spaces the jig downwardly by an amount sufficient to insure clearance between the top of the door and the frame.

With the jig It in this position, the tool bit 17 and follower 18 are projected through each template opening as shown in FIG. 4 and moved within the openings to rout out the recesses in the jamb 12. Then, the lugs 31 are rotated 180 degrees to the alternate positions and the jig is transferred to the edge 14 of the door 15 and positioned with its upper end level with the top of the door and the lugs engaging the face of the door as shown in FIG. 2. When the follower and the bit are projected through the template notches from the opposite side and moved within the notches as before, the bit routes out the recesses in the door in the form of mirror images of the recesses in the jamb.

If the cross-sectional dimension of the rail 19 at a (FIGS. 3 and 6) between the notch edges 27 and the adjacent side edge of the rail is sufficiently thin, the same process may be used for recessing both flush and rabbeted jambs 12, the latter being illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. Preferably, however, the rail is made of substantial thickness at a for longitudinal strength. If the dimension a is equal to the spacing b (FIG. 6) of the inner wall 37 of a standardized rabbet or groove in the jamb from the vertical edge 27 of the template opening in the rail, the side edge 35 of the rail may be used as the stop engageable with the vertical locating surface of the frame, the wall 37 of the rabbet then serving as the locating surface.

In this instance, however, the dimension a is made greater than the spacing b for increased longitudinal strength of the board forming the rail 19, and a spacer bar 38 is fastened to the side 23 of the rail to close the open side of each of the template notches. The width of these spacer bars is equal to the desired spacing b of the wall 37 from the vertical template surface so that the rail may be placed in the rabbet groove as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 with the outer sides 39 of the spacer bars abutting against the wall 37 of the rabbet. Then the recesses 11 are milled in the jamb 12' with the inner sides 4% of the spacers serving as the vertical template surfaces for the follower on the tool. During this operation, the stop lugs 31 are turned ninety degrees in to inactive positions (FIG. 6) in the plane of the rail.

When the jig It) is transferred to the door edge 14, it is turned about its longitudinal axis into the position shown in FIG. 2, and the lugs 31. are rotated outwardly to engage the inner face of the door 15 in the same manner as if the jamb 12' had been of the flush type. The spacing c (FIG. 6) of the inner sides 40 of the spacer bars 38 from the plane of the inner edge of the jamb is the same as the spacing d of the stop surfaces 32 from the vertical notch surfaces 27 so that, again, the jig defines mirror images of the jamb recesses on the door edge.

The foregoing description of the use of the spacer bars 33 is included herein to illustrate the construction of the jig lit of wood. If the jig is to be made of metal, the dimension a should be shortened to equal the dimension b and thereby further simplify the construction and manner of use of the jig- The dimensions of the template openings are selected to form recesses for four-inch hinges using the usual router and template. follower 18. To form recesses for three-and-one-halfinch hinges with the same jig, the radius of the folioweris increased by one-fourth of an inch to space the router bit inwardly from the path it follows with the smaller follower. For this purpose, a sleeve 41 (FIGS. 3 and 6) of appropriate size may be telescoped onto the follower and releasably held thereon during routing of the smaller recesses. The dot-dash path 42 shown in FIGS. 3 and 6 indicatesthe outline ofthe larger recess made with the smaller follower for larger hinges, while the dotted line path 43 indicates the outline of recesses made with the larger following including the sleeve 41 for smaller hinges.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that a jig 10 made in accordance with the present invention is extremely simple and inexpensive in construction and may be used without complex manipulation or adjustment. It is adapted for use with both rabbeted and flush door frames and re quires nothing more than the selection of the proper locating stops for engagement with the locating surfaces available on the workpiece to be operated on. After the set of recesses is formed in one member, the jig is placed in a corresponding position against the other member and defines mirror images thereon. The possibility of error, even in the hands of an unskilled workman, is slight.

I claim as my invention: v

1. A hinge recess jig for locating a first set of vertically spaced recesses in the face of a door jamb and a second set of alined recesses in the vertical edge of a door to be hinged on the jamb, said jig including, in combination, an elongated rail longer than the work area on the jamb and having one flat side surface for lying in a vertical position against the jamb and an oppositeflat side surface for lying against the door edge, a set of longitudinally spaced and vertically alined template openings through said rail and said surfaces corresponding in number and spacing to the number and spacing of said recesses and having edges for guiding a tool along first paths along the jamb defining said first set of recesses, at least two lugs pivoted on said rail at vertically spaced points for rotation about horizontalaxes and having stop surfaces facing edgewise of the rail and disposed in a common vertical plane spaced horizontally from one side of each template opening a distance correlated with the width of the recesses to be formed in the jamb, each lug being rotatable from an inactive position in the plane of said rail into one alternate position in which it projects outwardly from said one side of the rail for engagement with a vertical'locating surface of the jamb, and into another alternate position in which it projects outwardly from said opposite side for engagement with a Vertical locating surface of said door whereby said lugs serve in said alternate positions to locate said template openings to define mirror images on said jamb and said door edge, and an additional stop surface extending along one longitudinal edge of said rail for engaging a vertical wall of a rabbet in said jamb, the location and spacing of said additional stop surface and said template openings being correlated to position the template openings over the area to be recessed when the stop surface engages the'rabbet wall.

2. A jig as defined in claim 1 in which saidlugs are pivoted on the bottoms of a series of'notches formed along one edge of said mil with said stop surfaces facing toward the opposite edge.

I 3. A jig as defined in claim 1 in which said template openings comprise a series of generally U-shaped notches formed along one edge of said rail with the bottom edges sneeess of the notches extending longitudinally of the rail and the remaining edges normal to the longitudinal axis of the rail, and said additional stop surface comprises the outer edge surfaces of spacer bars fast on the edge of said rail and closing the open sides of said notches, said bars being of preselected thickness to abut with said outer edge surfaces against a vertical wall of a rabbet in said jamb and define with their inner edge surfaces the vertical edges of the recesses to be formed in the jamb.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Thielen et a1 33-197 Johnson 33-197 Carter 33-197 X Willoughby 33-194 Sherwin 33-197 X Cran'ier 33-194 ISAAC LISANN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A HINGE RECESS JIG FOR LOCATING A FIRST SET OF VERTICALLY SPACED RECESSES IN THE FACE OF A DOOR JAMB AND A SECOND SET OF ALINED RECESSES IN THE VERTICAL EDGE OF A DOOR TO BE HINGED ON THE JAMB, SAID JIG INCLUDING, IN COMBINATION, AN ELONGATED RAIL LONGER THAN THE WORK AREA ON THE JAMB AND HAVING ONE FLAT SIDE SURFACE FOR LYING IN A VERTICAL POSITION AGAINST THE JAMB AND AN OPPOSITE FLAT SIDE SURFACE FOR LYING AGAINST THE DOOR EDGE, A SET OF LONGITUDINALLY SPACED AND VERTICALLY ALINED TEMPLATE OPENINGS THROUGH SAID RAIL AND SAID SURFACES CORRESPONDING IN NUMBER AND SPACING TO THE NUMBER AND SPACING OF SAID RECESSES AND HAVING EDGES FOR GUIDING A TOOL ALONG FIRST PATHS ALONG THE JAMB DEFINING SAID FIRST SET OF RECESSES, AT LEAST TWO LUGS PIVOTED ON SAID RAIL AT VERTICALLY SPACED POINTS FOR ROTATION ABOUT HORIZONTAL AXES AND HAVING STOP SURFACES FACING EDGEWISE OF THE RAIL AND DISPOSED IN A COMMON VERTICAL PLANE SPACED HORIZONTALLY FROM ONE SIDE OF EACH TEMPLATE OPENING A DISTANCE CORRELATED WAITH THE WIDTH OF THE RECESSES TO BE FORMED IN THE JAMB, EACH LUG BEING ROTATABLE FROM AN INACTIVE POSITION IN THE PLANE OF SAID RAIL INTO ONE ALTERNATE POSITION IN WHICH IT PROJECTS OUTWARDLY FROM SAID ONE SIDE OF THE RAIL FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH A VERTICAL LOCATING SURFACE OF THE JAMB, AND INTO ANOTHER ALTERNATE POSITION IN WHICH IT PROJECTS OUTWARDLY FROM SAID OPPOSITE SIDE FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH A VERTICAL LOCATING SURFACE OF SAID DOOR WHEREBY SAID LUGS SERVE IN SAID ALTERNATE POSITIONS TO LOCATE SAID TEMPLATE OPENING TO DEFINE MIRROR IMAGES ON SAID JAMB AND SAID DOOR EDGE, AND AN ADDITIONAL STOP SURFACE EXTENDING ALONG ONE LONGITUDINAL EDGE OF SAID RAIL FOR ENGAGING A VERTICAL WALL OF A RABBER IN SAID JAMB, THE LOCATION AND SPACING OF SAID ADDITIONAL STOP SURFACE AND HAVING TEMPLATE OPENINGS BEING CORRELATED TO POSITION THE TEMPLATE OPENINGS OVER THE AREA TO BE RECESSED WHEN THE STOP SURFACE ENGAGES THE RABBET WALL. 